Goodbye, Vibe

Our dogs love the car. LOVE the car. It doesn’t matter where we’re going, or for how long, or why, or even when… if there’s a chance to go in the car, they want in!

For the most part our vehicle was very good to us. It was a 2009 Pontiac Vibe, and it was the perfect vehicle for our family because the seats folded flat and they had a hard plastic back on them so the dogs couldn’t damage them. We’d been all over Nova Scotia, and into New Brunswick and PEI in it, and it had been great every step of the way. It was, admittedly, a little squishy if we needed to cart around a lot of gear or were going on vacation, but that’s what the roof carriers are for. And as a day-to-day dog-mobile it was a great commuter car.

Guinness on his first road trip to PEIKaylee and Guinness, the night we picked Kaylee up from a couple in Middleton to bring her home with us. You can see how excited G is to have a sister.Adoring his dad from afar (“afar” being anywhere not in Jason’s lap)Enjoying some beach time on our 2015 summer vacationNomnom strawberries!

That is, until yesterday, when we got rear-ended. Thankfully the dogs weren’t with us, but it looks like we are in the market for a new vehicle.

Anyone who has dogs knows that getting the right vehicle is important. Too small, and everyone’s smushed and miserable. Too big, and it’s unwieldly. If you have dogs you already know it’s going to be covered in mud/water/slush/wtf-is-that-wait-I-don’t-want-to-know at some point. There will be nose art on the windows. There will be no shortage of fur in every crevice. We need something rugged. Something tough. Something versatile.

…and maybe heated seats for Mom? I mean, this IS Canada…

So here’s our short list.

Subaru CrossTrek

Ford Escape

Toyota Corolla iM

or…. maybe just buy a used a 2009 Pontiac Vibe (to replace the one we had – it’s a really great car!)

Unfortunately, the last year they made the Pontiac Vibe was in 2010, mostly due to the whole issue of Pontiac going out of business and whatnot – but its identical twin sister, the Toyota Matrix, was made until 2014. The Corolla is the new “replacement” for the Matrix, but the CrossTrek has Subaru’s AWD for Canadian winters and the Excape has more room, so we’re open to trying anything. And maybe we’ll find something totally unrelated. This is the first vehicle we’ve bought with the dogs specifically in mind, so we’ll see where that takes us!

I can tell you that it won’t be a Jeep Wrangler, which is what we got as a rental… you might say Kaylee is unimpressed.

Veto. V.E.T.O. VEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTOOOOOOOOO.

It seems a bit silly to get sentimental over a car, but I’m going to miss her. She took us on all our best adventures; from the beach to the back woods, and all places in between. She may have had perpetual nose prints on the windows and fur stuck to the ceiling, but she always got us to where we were going, even when we didn’t quite know where that was. She helped us make memories.